Quintessence

by Tankou001

The Sequel To Pulchritudinous. Chouji, and Hinata have yet to get maried, but the upcoming Chuunin Exams will prove to spice up life for the loving couple. M for citrus, swearing, extreme awesomeness, wonderful fight scenes, and Alternate OC Pairings

14. Born To The Blizzard Traditions Fuze

Quintessence

A Chouji X Hinata Fanfiction

Hey all! Tankou001 here with an all new chapter of Quintessence! February has come and is going well for me! I have dug up a nearby anime club at the local library! Who knew that the library I go to near every day to get online and rent manga just happened to have an anime club I didn't notice till four weeks ago!?! XD Anyway, I have found myself many a follower at this anime club and I am very satisfied with the lack of NaruHina fans there because... well... do I even need make my opinion of NaruHina any more well known? I think not XP I have come to be called Chouji-nii at the club because of my manic love of Chouji and cosplaying him. I feel so special being the group's "big brother."

In more recent news of my life, apparently I contracted a battery of harmful infections and illnesses over the holiday season. Unlike what I listed last chapter at the starting author's note it was much more than the standard cold. After six weeks of constant sickness and varying symptoms I finally got to a nearby clinic and it only took the doctor a couple looks around my body to find two ear infections and a sinus infection. One battery of unpleasant testing later unearthed strep throat, bronchitus and bacterial tonsilitus ("us" infections spelled right?). I wasn't pleased with the three days of quaranteen that followed. Though I normally stay in my house a good portion of the day it has never actually registered to my mind, before quaranteen, how good the ability to leave your house can be. I always stay inside because I know that I can leave if I happen to get bored of sitting in front of my com, which is rare but not unknown. However, when stuck in my house no matter what, I found the very slightest restlessness ate away at me like a rising plague. I nearly tore my poor condo apart futilely trying to find forms of entertainment that never were formulated before I fell back into a pain killer related state of vegetation and slept of the biggest portions of my sickness. Thank you doctor prescribed pills to get better! You watch after me so. XP The very night quaranteen ended I was out on the town like a jackal! I walked to the nearby fred meyer to get some food. Finding that place closed, now past midnight, I wandered near two miles to the twenty-four hour super store to get burritos for myself. I hadn't eaten in ten days due to my illness and when you're that hungry you tend to travel vast distances to get what you want XD

Enjoy!

{HR}

Chapter Fourteen: Born To The Blizzard, Traditions Fuse

An angry howl of pain flooded the halls of Hyōga Sanmyaku's capital. Deep within the bowel's of the capital a ritual of life was beginning. Akimichi Hinata was giving birth and the child was giving her quite the time as it urged for freedom into the light of the frozen world it's mother and father waited for it in. Hinata had been in labor for near twelve hours already, Chouji by her side the entire time. Chouji, however, was not the only human presence to grace Hinata's delivery room. Hazumi Ty Dao had taken the initiative to step in as one of the only humans in the capital who knew even the slightest amount in the ways of midwifery. This had surprised everyone, though Hinata gladly accepted her presence alone, if not her help in the delivery. It was a comforting scene to the soon-to-be mother that not only polar bears would be delivering her child. However, now Hinata only wanted the child to do one of two things; settle down or leave the confines of her womb. Both she believed would bring her the relief she needed so very much.

Chouji, however, was running circles around himself in worry. Hinata had been in far too much pain for far too long. The past month had been a highly celebrated one. The very same morning that Hinata had emerged as the Yuki-Onna, not at all remembering it from the past night, was the day that a grand feast was thrown for that very reason. Hinata and Chouji had been a bit worried for the child if Hinata was to remain in her alternate form, though they were assured that the child would be fine. Based on the prying eyes of both Hizano and Hinata herself, the bears were right. Nothing had gone wrong with the child and, based on a previous scan from Hizano, nothing was going wrong, even still, aside from an overly complicated birth. Despite this, Chouji couldn't help but tied his muscles into knots as he fawned over Hinata, beads of sweat flowing from her brow and vigorously wiped clean before her cool flesh had time to freeze them in place. Eventually, Chouji was forced out of the room for a while as Hinata's contractions grew a bit weaker for the first time in quite the while. Hinata needed rest. Her delivery, as informed by one of the elders who was helping, would be a very long one. Chouji needed not stay in the same room as Hinata at all times and when she had the peace within to rest, she would be made to take it with haste and all males would be rushed from the room.

Now Hinata slept as best as she could inside while Chouji sat three halls over. He was full of worry, full of anxiety. He didn't care if Hinata was sleeping, he wanted to be with her. His hands sought shelter in his red mane, tangling it further as he tugged lightly at the mess of untamed hair. Hizano's voice sounded in his ears, as though far away. Chouji looked over to see his disciple right next to him, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder. Hizano, even in the past month, had only gotten more bulky, more like the bear he was now accepted as being. It was true that he hadn't finished the extent of his polar kata training, though he was on par with the masters, through aid of the spirit that dwelt within him. Because of his near constant proximity to the polar energies around them he had grown taller and bulkier. If there was a Hyuuga equivalent to Chouji's bulky form, Hizano had achieved it. "Chouji-sensei, mind if I sit down?" Chouji shook his head a bit and gestured for Hizano to sit. Hizano did so. "She's gonna be fine, Chouji-sensei. She's a picture of health, albeit very tired. Nothing bad's gonna happen."

Chouji slowly nodded. This was something that he already knew very well. The knowledge, however, didn't help at all. "I know, Hizano-kun... I know." Chouji stood slowly. "I just can't help but to be worried... I guess it's just my paternal instincts kicking in..."

"I think you're just being a human!" A booming voice exploded out from down the hall, causing both of the humans to jump. They looked down the hall as Kuma-Oumono stepped toward them, his massive figure, if anything, more imposing than usual at this point. "You don't have that right here, Chouji!" Kuma-Oumono boomed, reaching out when he got close enough and cuffing Chouji about the side, sending the Akimichi flying across the hall. "You're a bear here! An established adult of the Polar Clan! You're not allowed to worry for your lover unless there is actually a problem! Get the hell on your feet and walk with me. Both of you, now!" Chouji got up quickly and Hizano stood from his seat, the two following the king down the hall, Chouji giving a forlorn look back toward where his lover now rested. "Chouji, you've grown soft! You're setting a bad example for your disciple and the rest of your students like this! You need to act strong. Act as though you cannot be swayed and no wind, no matter how strong, will make you bow. Act as though you are invincible and defeat will never have the courage to approach you. Act as though no harm will ever come to your loved ones and injury, of any kind, will never pass your body to reach them!"

Chouji noded his head slightly. "Forgive me, Otou-san."

"This isn't something to be forgiven!" Kuma-Oumono cried out. "Right now your closest brothers are out, seeking treasures for your mate and newborn child, hoping to return before the cub is born. You have a job, as the father, to best them in this endeavor and claim any treasures for your family once you return with your own! It is the Polar Way! You, as a member of this clan, must follow cultural customs and traditions. Just as I expect you never to sleep on The Night Of Lovers I expect you just as much to take part in the paternal hunts."

Chouji hesitated, "I apologize, Otou-san, I don't understand."

"You're not supposed to yet!" Kuma-Oumono boomed, "But now is the time where you, as a soon-to-be father, will set out with your fellows and return with a gift for your newborn or not return at all. It is expected! Hinata has been in labor near twelve hours, though I have been informed a full day is more than likely to pass before the real struggle begins. She is to take unusually long, by human standards, to deliver. That means you have a day to gather your most trusted companions, no more than four, and go out to retrieve your coming child a present as well as retrieving Hinata as present of her own."

Chouji hadn't ever heard of this particular rite. However, he understood why it was so that it had been kept from him until now. There had been no reason. The due date hadn't come up yet and the Polar Clan tended to keep their surprisingly arduous customs from the one expected to complete them until the very last minute, if possible. It all prepared them for the unexpected. "What must I get for my child and mate, Otou-san?"

"Anything you feel suits them and more. You're not just getting a little play trinket for your child and an attractive gem for your mate. You must gather treasure like no other. Would you expect to pamper your loved ones with any less? How do you think the polar clan is so rich in valuable items? I can guarantee you that we don't actively mine for our gems and gleaming items! Half of the star cast in the clan has come from gifts of birth and passed on through generations alone. You will seek as much loot as you can for your branch of the clan and then you will return with it before the moment of your child's birth. Is this clear?" Chouji hesitated but Kuma-Oumono gave him a considerably light slap on the back, ushering Hizano to follow his master. "Hizano, you're to accompany Chouji! Find him three more companions and get Chouji out into the storm so that he may claim glory for his branch!"

Hizano nodded and turned, kicking Chouji hard in the rear as Chouji started walking away. Chouji gave his disciple a look of intense irritation and Hizano only flashed a grin. He had permission to use mild force on Chouji to get him going. It may have been an unspoken sort of permission but both Chouji and Hizano knew that it had been given, regardless of the verbal presence or lack thereof. Chouji wasted no time in finding another companion. Of course, this one wasn't of his team. In fact, according to the suspected rules, women weren't allowed to take part in this particular endeavor. This appeared to be a man's mission. That said, Kyogi was the next person to be found for the group. Sure, he wasn't exactly on the best of terms with Hizano or Chouji alike, though he would be valuable, certainly. He would also be willing to take part for two reasons of note; One reason was making his own sensei happy. Hinata was, of course, Kyogi's teacher. She would be overjoyed that he took the initiative to help get her and their child a gift. The second reason was that; wherever Hizano went to do something big, Kyogi couldn't chance being passed up.

A mixture of seeming comradery and team rivalry compelled Temano to take the chance at joining the "hunting party." He cared for Hinata and wanted to make her happy with a gift, however, Temano made it very clear that such reasons had no bearing in his final decision to go with Chouji's group. He simply couldn't afford to be passed up by men of the other teams, nor could he afford to fall behind Kyogi after the Chuunin Exam. Aside from that he needed to be around to "make sure Kyogi didn't do anything entirely too stupid for his own good," and everyone was fine letting him leave it at that.

Surprisingly Sai stepped out of his sheltered methods to join the group, completing the set of five. He seemed almost somber, unlike his usual mask of a smile Sai seemed entirely without motivation despite his seeming need to go with Chouji's group. He looked sad and empty, something Chouji could almost read his mind about. Sai missed Aryū dearly. Chouji knew this because it was the same feeling he would feel were Hinata taken away from him for so long. It had been months since Sai had been blessed with Aryū's presence and the withdrawal wore on him like sand paper. He initially offered for only two reasons. One: Chouji and the others, as much as they may have intuitively known the landscape because of exploring it, they had no clue where any kind of good treasure could be found. Sai, though he had been locked away for months, had done extensive research on everything about Hyōga Sanmyaku, especially geography and places of mythical origin. If there was a map of a region with any kind of treasure, he had read and copied it. If there was a secret place in the archives that had been somehow hidden away from standard view, if due only to the lack of need for attention, Sai had perused it's depths at length. Reason Number Two: No matter how much they claimed to belong to the Polar Clan, Hinata, Chouji and their child were humans. This was a matter of human affairs and, as such, Sai couldn't help but make sure that the fifth spot in the hunting party belonged to yet another human. Though Chouji didn't appreciate the gesture in part to placing Hinata and Chouji's existance solely on the claim of humanity, he did appreciate the thought that Sai was taking such a patriotic effort toward proving himself to the happy couple. However, he was slightly offended to Sai's insisting that their child was solely belonging to the human faction. It was, if anything, more belonging to the Polar Clan than to humanity, if anything because of the circumstances of both conception and birth. This was as much a child of the Polar Clan as it was Chouji and Hinata's. However, Chouji wouldn't debate this with so precious little time on the line. Offered a sled, Chouji refused. Temano would provide all the sleds they would need. Instead Chouji loaded himself down with triple the normal rope, enlisted Ty Dao's help in getting some of her special silken cords, and was off with the party of five human men, ready to hunt for the lady of the week, Hinata herself.

The group didn't walk from the capital. No, they exited the great gates of the capital and booked it out. Chouji wouldn't waste time and all of the others freely agreed that Hinata was much too far along in her labor to take chances. Those in the group were no involved. Nobody would take the chance of incurring Kuma-Oumono's, or worse, Hinata's wrath, for being late with the traditional delivery of gifts. For the first time, however, Chouji was pleasantly surprised by the everyone's effort, or rather, their inovation to keep up with Chouji's long strides. While Chouji stood near ten feet tall in his Beast Man form, his strides more like long, one legged leaps, the others couldn't hope to keep up with their comparatively short legs. However, as the group started picking up speed Chouji noticed that everyone had a method of making themselves both faster and in spending less energy in gaining more ground. Hizano seemed to get low. His very form seemed now more bestial than ever as he held not the two beat gait of a human; one foot then the other, but the three beat gait of a charging bear; front feet (or rather hands) both at once in front with back two feet stepping separately, though only just. The spirit of the bear in him was clearly growing stronger and more controlled. This "four legged" lope seemed a bit awkward, though Hizano pulled it off well, looking something in between a gorilla and a bear in his running.

Kyogi's methods were most inovative. He appeared to have modified chakra suction into something different. Instead of using chakra suction to make the slick ice beneath him lose it's slippery nature, he took advantage of it, modifying his chakra to allow him to slide along even uneven, spiked surfaces like they were smooth ice. It was as skating would be were he to be wearing ice skates, though he was very comfortable in his fur boots. Sai, unsurprisingly, took flight, summoning a great bird of ink as soon as they started moving and was keeping up quite easily. It semed that, despite the usage of chakra for the initial summoning, controlling and sustaining the bird took no extra energy. Perhaps most amazing was Temano's favored form of transportation. It was not simply running as Chouji used, nor a modified run like Hizano's. He didn't glide along the ice by foot like Kyogi or take flight like Sai. No, Temano used the surrounding blizzard to his advantage. In mid-run he had formed himself a small board of wood with a sail. Using the blasts of blizzard wind he "sailed" on the ice on some kind of snowboard, unimpeded by any small obstacles and, when it came to great lifts in elevation or steep drops he would simply take flight from the post or cliff, riding the air currents down until he landed. Chouji assumed some of Temano's natural wind affinity was at work for some of the more ridiculous feats of surfing acrobatics, though he doubted Temano needed to give more than a gentle nudge to push the wind in the right direction.

This hodge-podge of strange travelers roved through the blizzard for an hour before stopping. They were far enough away from the capital that following maps and directions would be effective. Temano made his wind board into a whole hut and they deliberated. Sai rolled out a map nearly as long as Chouji was tall and just as wide. Chouji hadn't thought Sai would be so detailed but it was all there. There were placed Chouji had never heard of listed in. "We're here," Sai stated, pointing to a small point on the map. "I suggest we go to the ephemeral mines. That's where most of the previous generations have dug in and gotten suitable treasure for their branches, so I've read."

"It's gotta be tapped out by now, Sai-sensei." Kyogi cut in, "Not to mention there must be dozens of treasure parties already roving there. We don't want to get into fights for sub-par treasure, especially not with other polar clan members. They're supposed to be our friends in this, remember. If we take treasure away from guys who are gonna give it to us in the first place it would be pretty counterproductive."

"As much as I dislike agreeing with Kyogi-kun," Temano started, "He's absolutely right. How about this area? The Black Chasm. It's deeper, less well known, more perilous. We can take whatever fights us in this kind of force and we're versatile enough with all five of us together to be flexible in any terrain, even if the variations are frozen. The Black Chasm may have a couple other groups there, but the place definitely hasn't been tapped out and if we see each other, it won't end up in a fight for the same stuff... Plenty to go around."

Sai thought on this, looking to the others for opinions. Hizano spoke up, taking his chances. "I've gotta say, despite the fact that the Black Chasm is perilous and worthy of praise... and beside the fact that the Ephemeral Mines are a popular location... I disagree with both of you." Hizano pointed to a part of the map with a one by it. Sai had marked the popularity of locations from 1-5. One, of course, was the least popular kind of location and, what most of the party assumed, the best treasure place. Fives were places like The Capital; heavily populated or visited areas. Treasure would be tapped out or already owned in those locations. Chances were they would be normal hunting or fishing spots as it was. Where Hizano pointed seemed unnamed and was at a One. "This place. It's got no name, even. Sai, where'd you find it?"

"A scroll talked about some colossal monster there that guarded it's home fiercely. It was given no name but I gather the monster was at least mildly sentient. It's either very territorial as a natural thing or is guarding something." Sai said, looking at the map.

"We could bet on it guarding something if it is any kind of intelligent." Hizano said knowledgeably. "Not to mention, even if it is simply a stupid animal wanting all the land to itself, there are tons of category two locations within under an hour of the marked area."

"I don't think so..." Chouji's voice rang out. All eyes went to him. This was, after all, Chouji's mission. Everyone else existed to help him finish it. He really did have final call. He planted a finger down on one location, and a second finger on the other, his massive hands able to sprawl out far enough to get close enough to each location to get the point across. "These two places are Zeroes. I know one of them from the cultural archives that I read into when I first came to Hyōga Sanmyaku years ago."

"The White Tiger Capital..." Sai spoke up, knowing just where Chouji was talking about.

"You bet." Chouji said with a bestial grin on his face. "That place, I know has treasure comparable to that of the capital and, given the history, none of the Polar Clan will have the slightest of problems with us stealing from the White Tigers."

"The two factions have been at war for milennia." Hizano confirmed. "I read it when the King told me to take free study. They're all over the Polar Clan's history. It's speckled with everything from brief skirmishes to full on wars that counted in the thousands. Those bloody massacres formed the Polar Clan's history and made them the warbound people they still are." Hizano tapped on the great figure. It was about three fourths the size of the Polar Bear Capital, though the fact that it's score was one of the only three Zero scores on the map meant that it was big business. "What about this second one, Chouji-sensei?"

"I'll speak for that," Sai put in. "That's the home of one of the Archaic Bears." Everyone raised eyebrows, save for Chouji. Sai looked his way and Chouji sighed.

"Long before the Beast Man brought the Polar Clan into being," Chouji started, "There were still polar bears. A good deal of them were just standard bears, just as intelligent as the average wild bear, no bigger than normal and certainly unable to talk or reason. However, there were other bears that stood out. They were still just as stupid as the animals they were. They did, however, have an insatiable lust for things that shown bright with value, an innate ability to sense pricy items and the urge to take them to their lairs and hoard them without fail. They were massive, more so than even the greatest of the Council you see seated now. When the Beast Man brought intelligence to Polar Kind, he killed many of these gigantic bears so that the intelligent ones could thrive. However, a good few lived and still thrive today. These are the Archaic Bears. They are ridiculously powerful, lustful of any treasure they can find and impossibly old. They are also wanted dead. These bears have two fates when met. They are either to be killed or are to be fled from and documented. The few on this list were documented. My plan is that we storm the White Tiger Capital and then, on the way back we get into the lair of the beast and take what we can provided we are up to it. It's on the way back so we won't waste any time."

"Couldn't we just hit it on the way?" Kyogi asked.

"It would be best to grab it on the way back." Chouji stated. "We don't know if this bear will let anyone in the cave, nor how powerful it may be. We do, however, know that we can storm the Tiger Capital and get out with minimal damage and maximum loot. We know they have treasure and we know they are, at least individually, much less powerful than the Archaic Bear of Old. It's six hours out from here at full speed. I am guessing it'll take a while longer to get back with the sleds since we'll have more to weigh us down and less capability to use our own free weight in travel. That said, we're not gonna rest if we can help it. Someone gets hurt, we'll haul 'em, on a sled and keep going. There's no stopping. Whatya think?"

Everyone exchanged looks. What Chouji was asking was, if the term could be pardoned at all, suicide. He was asking to storm the capital of the Polar Clan's ancient enemies as well as asking to take on a bear so large that it was ineradicable. After near a minute of silence and Chouji's own testing glare sent to noone and everyone at the same time, Kyogi finally cracked a smile. "I think you're stark raving mad! I think you're trying to get us killed along with you and I love the idea almost as much to death as the ideas will love me similar! Let's hit the ice and get this shit on the road!"

Hizano gave a scoff and shook his head. "Well, if you're going I can't exactly let myself fall behind! Ty Dao-chan wouldn't let me live it down if I didn't match your insanity on something this big. I'm with ya, Chouji-sensei!"

Sai looked around and sighed. "If you are all going I suppose it's far too late to turn back... I should have let you get a bear though, for this."

Temano remained the last to speak. "You are all lunatics... I can see my voice of reason is strong needed in this endeavor." This earned a laugh from everyone, even the most minor of chuckles from Sai.

Chouji set his hand in the center and everyone placed their hands on his own. "Then this marks an official hunting party! We're no longer individuals. We're a complete unit. We're brothers of the Hunt, one and all. Brothers, Let us depart!" There was a largely garbled call of approval as Temano shrunk the hut to his wind board again and mounted it, the wooden material wrapping around his feet for anchorage. Sai summoned an ink bird and took off. Kyogi energized his feet and Hizano leaned low to the ground. Chouji let out a roar of victory and leaped toward their direction of choice, the rest right with him.

The blizzard only grew stronger in the hours that they traveled. Nobody seemed to tire at all, despite the biting cold and frigid gales that buffeted the party. A few times Sai or Temano were separated but Kyogi, Hizano or Chouji would always leave off and retrieve them. Sai and Temano both knew which direction to go and, even in the blizzard, they could find the general path until they were picked up. Three hours into their journey the party reached a clear zone in the blizzard. This zone was deadly cold. Sai's Ink bird actually froze solid in mid-flight, sending him careening to the frozen ground below. Chouji caught him from the air just before his bird landed in shattered pieces on the ground. The group looked to the west to see what would come to be their second destination in the distance. It was the home of the Archaic Bear standing a few miles away in the center of the clear zone. It was a mountain of super-colossal proportions made entirely of ice. The ice was black as night and Chouji knew that, inside that mountain, lie an ancient creature so fiersome as to back down the council of the Polar Clan itself. It wasn't long before Sai and Temano couldn't take the cold of the clear zone and they party had to duck back into the raging blizzard that moved around the clear zone like a hurricane. The great eye had no wind at all, either, so the party agreed that, later on, they would name the area "The Frozen Eye" on the map, reporting it to Kuma-Oumono when they returned.

After another two hours of blizzard conditions Hizano scouted ahead. "It's about forty minutes ahead. They all seemed hunkered down in their citadels." Hizano roared over the storm, his voice just barely winning over the raging blizzard's howl. "The front gates of the capital are open. Think they're expecting us?" Hizano gave a laugh that only Chouji caught.

Chouji couldn't help but laughing as well. He knew better than to assume such things. Even the great bears opened their great gates for the biggest storms. Not only was it a traditional custom to "invite" the winter into your home when it came knocking with such ferocity, but it was safer. Why let the storm pound on your front doors and risk damage when you can open them wide and let the wind fly down the halls until it works itself away? In the mean time everyone can just sit back in the inner areas of the capital where it was always warmer and where the wind couldn't reach. Chouji knew Hizano was just joking anyway. He knew the opening of doors was better in a blizzard anyway. Still, Chouji would go with it for the fun of it. "They must be! Let's accept their generous invitation!" Everyone laughed out at this, even Temano and Sai. To add humor to such situations eased tension and increased morale, two deciding factors in working well in combat situations.

Just over thirty minutes later the party was approaching the ancestral capital of the White Tigers. These had been the enemy of the Polar Clan for thousands of years, tens of thousands of years even. Any polar clan member who did the tigers harm was welcome back most proudly and commended for their bravery and the wondrous forward step they would have given the bears. The Tigers and The Bears were almost polar opposites in fighting style, so Chouji had heard. Bears fought chest first. They were pushy and straight forward. They didn't fear a blow because they knew they could take one. Tigers had no lack of fortitude, however, they were made more for lithe combat. They could take a hit, though not a quarter as well as a mighty bear could. They relied one speed, not bulk. A bear and a tiger of the same size pitted against each other was a battle that a bear would win every time on a fair field. However, Tigers didn't fight fair as a bear would see. They were long time lovers of guerilla tactics. They never stayed around for more than a few attacks before rushing away to attack again when it suited them best. The group slammed against the outer walls. Kyogi and Hizano were on one side of the gates while Temano and Sai hid one the other Chouji lay under the snow right in the middle of the open gates, flat as he could be to the ground. The snow piled on top of him and he blended in perfectly. He surveyed the area behind the gates. Unlike the polar bears the great gates of the tigers weren't built into the capital proper. In fact, while the bears build their capital as one gigantic bulding, the tigers build towering citadels of stone, ice and metal. Each citadel was a major house, similar to the branches of the Polar Clan. The outer wall just guarded the capital from unwanted guests, though Chouji suspected that they had very little as it was. There was nobody in sight, though that could be deceiving at best and purely ambush related at worst. Chouji lifted an arm from the snow and motioned one member from each separate group to come to him. Hizano and Temano answered the call, coming to Chouji. They were to return to their groups and follow Chouji, flat against the ground. The lower they were the better.

Within minutes the five strong group was buried in the snow, army crawling under the surface. They were all about ten feet from the next person over. If one was discovered it was known they could at least defend themselves until another caught the ruckus and made themselves known. Until then it was best that any investigating tigers thought there were as few intruders as possible, thus less searching attackers if they happened to be found, which was inevitable. They crawled under the snow. They crawled for perhaps a half an hour, sending short messages to each other through their own forms of snow penetrating communication. Chouji's powerful figure thumped into the ground beneath him, sending codes out. Temano sent hollow roots out as speaking tubes before absorbing them again. Sai sent little ink mice through the snow and made them sink into the ground into ink words. Hizano, like Chouji, thumped and Kyogi sent "focus items," which naturally found their way to and from their target destinations, speaking aloud into the ear of the recipient before returning to him. Strangely, this mismatched communication pattern was ridiculously effective. At one point Hizano was found and Chouji, ever the good master, came to his rescue, leaping from the snow to catch the enemy tiger off guard. After snapping the enemy's neck Chouji sank it deep into the ground where it couldn't be found again, at least without some heavy digging in an unlikely place.

After their crawling through ice and snow they arrived right where Chouji wanted them to be; The imperial citadel. This was the wellspring of Tiger commerce and command. Chouji expected as many guards inside as there were bears in any sizeable hunting party; in other words, hundreds. The party surfaced, greeting each other as they hid from a passing group of Tigers who were chatting idly, just happy that they weren't made to do things today. Chouji looked up the citadel and the party made quick deliberation. The choices were three. They could dig below and get in through the catacombs. Normally this would work for bears but Sai explained that it would be counterproductive to go down first, as Tigers kept their treasure "up." The next choice was storming the front door directly and working up. Such a thing was entirely out of the question. Even with their power the party knew that kicking in the front door and barging up the stairs would draw the whole capital to them, and they didn't want that. This all left choice three their only option; to climb the walls and get in at the very highest floor with a window. If there were any floors above that, they'd go up first and then venture down. If not they'd explore each floor before gradually moving downward, slowly reaching their destination. After a bit more deliberation it was decided that this would be the best place, if any, for the party to split. They'd take five different points around the building and get climbing. Sai informed everyone that chakra suction wouldn't work on the building walls, they were too inherently slippery, even for chakra to grab hold to. Instead he provided everyone climbing gear, which he pulled seemingly from his artistry scrolls, though they weren't made of ink at all. With that everyone parted.

Chouji positioned himself at the base of the back end of the citadel. It was roughly cylindrical, perhaps fifty stories tall, maybe more. This would be a hell of a climb. Grabbing his climber's pick and pulling his knife, Chouji began his ascent. He could trust that none of the team would use flight methods unless they absolutely had to. To fly through the air against the white blizzard would be foolish. They all had a better chance of obscurity if they clung to the gray citadel walls and climbed. The climb was arduous, to say the least. Chouji found himself often slipping on the Citadel's protrusions where he thought they would be dry enough to be good for holding on to. At some points Chouji had to forgo the ability to keep sharp edges from cutting his hands not because he couldn't help it, but because he needed to let a sharp outcropping stab an inch into his hand to avoid falling. It was painful, tiring work. Chouji only wondered how the other four were fairing. It was about at forty stories up that Chouji checked his progress. There seemed just over ten stories above him before what looked like a bell tower of sorts, just a massive dome on the roof that certainly held something but had no windows to speak of. He looked down to see just what was happening. Nobody seemed to have taken notice of him, that was good. However, a call sounded in his ears. It wasn't the sound of tiger calls. It was the sound of Kyogi's voice echoing into his ears. It was the sound of intense pain. Was Kyogi hurt? Had he been spotted and attacked? The first remained unknown, though the second question became quite obvious when voices from below screamed in notice from the other side of the citadel... right under where Kyogi would be. Chouji inwardly swore as he double timed it up the side of the citadel. Kyogi had at least blown his own cover and that was bound to draw attention to other parts of the outer workings of the citadel. Soon enough everyone would be seen. They needed to make it to the top before then. Kyogi would have to work alone until they all got inside, something Chouji was very aware Kyogi was capable of doing.

As Chouji advanced as fast as he could he saw, though not aimed at him, a blast of cold aimed somewhere right around the edge of the citadel. Temano was just on that side and Chouji looked down below as he climbed to note what must have been Temano's retaliation, a gigantic oak-like tree ripping itself free from the stony ground below to grab at the attackers. Now it was all entirely useless to hide. Temano had retaliated as he should have. Kyogi had definitely been spotted. It was only a seconds amount of time before everyone else was spotted. It was now the time for action, not stealth. Chouji cried out as he spotted Temano leaping free from the citadel walls and forming a gigantic glider of wood from his form to carry himself to the top floor. Sai similarly was already flying through use of ink bird to the top. Chouji was nearing the top as Temano extended a branch down to him, carrying him to rest of the way. Kyogi was already up and Hizano was being assisted by Sai. They hadn't made it to the topmost window. No, they had sufficed for the roof, it seemed. "At least we don't have to worry about missing any floors!" Chouji cried out as a blast of arctic chill flew up at them from the ground below. Chouji stepped up and breathed in deep. From his mouth flew a blast of fire that stopped the polar gale aimed at them. "I'll keep us covered!" Chouji called as he finished fending off the gale. "You guys start thinking Down, and fast. I don't care what out have to do, just get us through this roof!" Chouji ordered just before stepping to the opposite edge to blast away another frigid blast of arctic air aimed at them. Nearby citadel rooftops were now being covered with tigers who were aiming strong arctic blasts at the roof the party now stood atop. Minutes went by and the party had no effect against the nigh indestructible roofing. No tigers seemed toi be coming up from the building to stop them but other buildings had roofs covered in tigers working joint blasts against the party. Chouji was tiring of it all very quickly. "Are you guys almost through yet?!?" He asked, raising a wall of flames to block two oncoming blasts of arctic wind from a pair of nearby roofs.

"Oh ya," Kyogi said as he drilled into the roof with a continuous wide beamed blast, "Just let me serve some tea and biscuits while I'm at it! This shit is hard stuff!"

Chouji groaned. Kyogi's rays of heat and Hizano's continuous bashing against the resulting weakened areas was putting nice dents on the roof. They were making headway, just not fast enough. Temano was almost useless in the fight against the roof as well, same with Sai. "Sai! Let's get some active air cover here! Get out into those three buildings and stop them from sending blasts our way. Temano, I want you to raise some trees on their roofs. See if you can't push some of these bastards right off their citadels while your at it. Anything that makes it harder for them makes it easier for us." Chouji formed some hand seals and spoke out. "I'm gonna get up close and personal with some of these guys myself while having some flying fun! Fire Style: Independant Jet Propulsion!" Chouji ran forward and leaped off the roof, falling a good few stories before his feet erupted out flames from their soles. The flames were white hot and thin as a welding torch but they propelled Chouji far back into the air. He drew his sword, stabilizing himself with one hand by launching small bursts of red flames from it. He had been waiting for this kind of situation to fine tune his flight jutsu. Naturally Chouji hadn't thought much on flight since he had his earth gliding. However, he knew flight had its definite pros, especially after seeing Hinata's lightning form abilities allow her to end up anywhere, no matter the elevation.

Chouji ripped through the air, quick blasts of concentrated white flame sending him forward or backward in short bursts. This jutsu was best not used with long blasts. It was dodgy and uncontrolled but got the job done with a lot less chakra consumption than it would were it better maintained. Flashing by a hooded roof Chouji swung his blade, cleaving the rooftop gazebo clean from the citadel and taking three tigers with him. He saw a heavily covered roof and zoomed in on it, landing from high above with a superfluous amount of billowing flames that did more to actively push the occupying tigers from the roof than it did burn them off. Four remained when he landed and Chouji stowed his sword, going into the melee instantly. The battle was extraordinary. The tiger's leaped one at a time, striking at Chouji before backing off for another. Bears had this sort of organization, but it was significantly different in nature. The Tigers would never get tired with this kind of teamwork. Them didn't spend enough time at the attack before switching off. Chouji took attack after attack, reeling at each one due to the perfect timing. He didn't have near enough time to recover from one tiger's strike before it backed off and another attacked from a different direction. It was all too late that Chouji relized what was happening. The tigers were battering him toward the edge. It didn't matter if he could fly if he didn't fall far enough to activate it before hitting a spiky parapet and being knocked out.

Chouji's saving grace arrived at the perfect time. Hizano's heavy form struck the roof hard and he pushed out with a bear cry, flinging one of the attackers off the roof and dozens of feet beyond the brink. The remaining three tigers were too distracted to finish their job in pushing Chouji off and that was their mistake. Chouji swung similarly to what hizano had done and flung a tiger off before charging another, driving him knowingly right off the roof. With the tiger went Chouji, of course, and the aerial battle started. Of course it was more just falling. Thirty stories the two fell, exchanging blows and trying to wrestle free from each other. The Tiger knew Chouji wanted to get free and wouldn't let him. He wanted to take Chouji with him. To be more accurate, he wanted Chouji to break his fall. This tiger knew he was going to die at this point. But even Chouji knew that if one landed on the other there was a much better chance of survival for the "top" grappler. Chouji concentrated perhaps twenty stories from the ground and his body erupted in flame. The tiger was thrown and Chouji pushed off into the open air, recovering and returning to his flight.

Sai flew about, causing mass havoc with a murder of ink ravens on three different roofs. He seemed rather leisurely about it all. He had propably just ordered the ravens to do their jobs and was now surveying to aid Kyogi more. Kyogi, meanwhile, was alone on the imperial rooftop. He was no welding through with a thin ray of heat. The roof was looking quick slack in some places and Chouji decided that it was probably time to return. He called out to his teammates, gesturing them all back to the roof. Temano was traveling roof to roof via large branches and was the first to see the gesture. He went to build his bridge and was traveling along when some tigers leaped to the wooden bridge. Immediately Temano was surrounded and looked at Chouji, who was en route already. There were a dozen around him on his bridge, ready to pounce. Temano saw that Chouji was coming but too late. He saw that Hizano was already busy with a pair of Tigers on a different rooftop. He didn't seem to see Sai and Neither was Chouji at the moment. Temano, as he was first attacked, thrust a kunai into the gut of a leaping tiger and then... he dropped the bridge. Chouji cried out in horror as the bridge underneath Temano and the some deozen tigers simple withered into nothing. Dozens of tigers fell and Temano wrestled with one in midair.. Fortunately, even the tigers knew that Temano's smaller body had no way of breaking a fall. They all grabbed for the walls of nearby citadels now, trying to slow themselves. Temano seemed to be doing some of it himself. From the sides of the citadels trees seemed to take root and reach out for him, though he would only bounces off of them, or worse, the weight of the tigers with his own would snap the limbs entirely. Chouji was rushing via jet propulsion to catch him. He spotted Sai diving toward Temano's falling body.

Sai couldn't get close. He was caught in the way of too many tigers. Chouji had similarly little success. It was maybe thirty feet from the ground when a tree limb finally caught Temano and the now dead tiger that he had been tangling with. Sai swooped down to grab him from the limb and start the ascent back to the rooftop. Temano himself gave Chouji a thumbs up and Chouji felt relief wash over him. Thumping noises came hard to Chouji's ears as he ascended and he looked below to see the largest tigers he had ever seen advancing into the imperial square. He heaved a groan as he climbed in altitude. Seeing the larger tigers, the smaller ones now seemed more courageous. In fact, Chouji would call it idiotic bravery to be more accurate. The two, however, didn't seem mutually exclusive. Now they were freely jumping to their deaths to get at Sai and Chouji. Sai seemed to be able to outmaneuver them in midflight but Chouji wasn't near as lucky. As he was nearing the top of his ascent, some sixty stories up, the tigers leaped at him, trying to grab him so that he wopuld fall. It only took one, gripping by a single claw on the leg of Chouji's fur pants, to drag him down enough for the others to pile on. Four, five Tigers after the first grabbed onto Chouji and he fell like a stone. The battle wasn't like the first aerial combat. Chouji was now fighting a group of Tigers just bent on killing him at landing. All they wanted to do was keep a hold, not wrestle him under. Chouji tried to pull his sword but his arm couldn't reach its knife form at his hip. Instead he tried catching himself alight. It was no good. He got some sparks as he wrestled the beasts around him, but they were too cold for him to light himself aflame to push them off. "You're Gonna Die!!! HAHAH!!!" One of them called into Chouji's ear as he bit deep into Chouji's shoulder maybe fifteen stories into the fall.

"At least let us go together!" Chouji called out as he swung back and punched the tiger in the snout. He kicked free a Tiger and from there freed an arm. The punching then started, Chouji swinging madly as he fell through the air. "I gotta ask, cause I've never tried it myself," He started as he grabbed a tiger by the throat and readied a punch to it, "What's my fist taste like?" Chouji asked with a grin as he shoved his fist into the tiger's mouth and straight into the back of it's throat. The reaction was an instant retching motion and chouji withdrew his fist, allowing the Tiger to fall in a cloud of it's own vomit. "Not that good I guess!" Chouji said with a laugh as he felt a sharp pain in his side where a tiger's claw had buried itself deep in. Chouji looked over as Sai swept down for him and cried out. "Get back up to the rooftops!" Chouji yelled out. "I'll be fine! Finish the mission!" Who was Chouji kidding? He was going to die hard when he landed. Even if the landing didn't turn Chouji into ground paste the gigantic tigers on the ground surely would make quick work of what was left of him. A hard pain jabbed into Chouji's temple and he looked over to see a mirror image of his normal self with demonic qualities. "Oh!" Chouji said with slight surrender to his position. "Hi me."

"Shut the hell up!" The shoulder Chouji yelled "You've taken worse than this shit! You've got about twenty stories to decide what's more important to you! Going out in a blaze of glory or living for Hinata and that baby! Don't make me need to tell you the right fuckin choice!"

Chouji groaned as the shoulder demon poofed into black smoke. He was right. Chouji had so much more to live for than just hitting the ground and making an impressive splat mark. As the Tiger still on him gnawed and clawed into Chouji ribs he decided. "Hey, you big piece of cat meat!" Chouji yelled out as he looked down. The tiger looked up with question. "I'm not old enough yet to donate my ribs to your stomach!" Chouji reached down and jabbed his thumbs into the Tiger's eyes. The Tiger growled in pain and bit down harder. Chouji screamed in pain and ripped the Tiger's jaws forcefully from his ribs, tearing a good deal of the flesh and muscle free with the teeth that had been with it. The blinded tiger struggled and Chouji continued his attacks. Ten stories left. Chouji sgrinned wide through the pain. He couldn't die but the Akimichi certainly knew he would feel like it. Five stories left. Chouji tried to turn tiger tiger under him to no avail. Two stories left. Chouji turned his head to look down. One story, Chouji tossed the tiger off him, rolled up into a ball and prayed.

The ground came hard. It came so very much harder than Chouji would have liked. At this speed his earth glide jutsu was useless. The jutsu made earth like water and allowed Chouji to swim through it like a fish. At such a height water had less give than concrete. It was best to take the brunt of the hit from stone instead. The impact flattened Chouji from his backward cannon ball. He hit the ground spine first and his whole body went slack against the ground. Chouji's hearing picked up a dim cry of horror from above, the sound of Hizano screaming in sadness. Chouji forced his eyes open to see tigers surrounding him. At the very top of the citadel he saw Hizano leap down but Sai was on him, catching him in the ink bird's talons. Hizano was putting up a fight, but not enough of one to get loose. He was distraught enough to jump after Chouji, that was comforting and disturbing at the same time. The tigers surrounding Chouji parted briefly and a gigantic one stepped over. Chouji made a smile in greeting. The tiger grimaced. "You're a polar clan member..." Chouji gave a weak chuckle. "You've done quite well... but this is where it ends..."

"Damn straight.." Chouji muttered as the great sabre teeth closed down around him. Suddenly the world filled with energy. His form exploded in ice and snow, freezing the tiger's mouth open. Chouji reached for his knife and found it missing. It was probably somewhere around the area. He struggled up and grabbed a gigantic sabre tooth. He lifted a leg and kicked it out. It would suffice as his new weapon. The tiger roared in pain and Chouji caught it by the other saber tooth as it lifted its head up. Chouji felt the jaws come down around him and scoffed. "Let's dance!" He cried as he jammed the sabre tooth into the roof of the mouth, right into the tiger's brain. The beast fell and Chouji rolled from it's mouth, still holding the colossal tooth. "Who else wants some of this?!?" Chouji cried out laughing. The tiger's charged in and Chouji made quick work of the first few waves. Chouji would have guessed correctly if he would have assumed that they were demoralised. Chouji had certainly just taken out at least a leutenant, or something of similar rank. But, after all, the bigger they are, the more fun it would be to kill them. Chouji fought off wave after wave of tigers. They kept coming, two for every one he slew down. The wind around Chouji was deafening as he kicked up snow drifts in his aided katas. The cold was blistering, even to the tigers, who made their home in such conditions. Chouji was, however, running out of steam. He had lost so much blood. The ribs on the right side of his torso were in bare air from the previous "ministrations" of the tigers in his fall. He was definitely nearing his end. As the winds whorled about him chouji thought he saw a figure in the snow. It was a beautiful woman, blue skin and black fingers, black lips. It was the Yuki-Onna, wasn't it? There was no way, though. The true Yuki-Onna couldn't exist now, could she? Chouji gave a smile as he swung about the great tooth. This was a hallucination from his blood loss. Still, he spoke. "I don't know if you're real... And I won't ask for this just once, I'm sure of it..." Chouji said as he stopped his twirling destruction, the tigers rippling through the flurry around him. "But if you are the real Yuki-Onna... make sure my friends are okay... and make sure my family is okay."

The Yuki-Onna smiled sweetly and nodded. All time stopped for a second as the Yuki-Onna drifted timelessly through the snow that had stopped around Chouji. "You're such a good person, Akimichi Chouji." she spoke softly, her voice deeper than Hinata's but still just as loving and caring as Hinata's voice when spoken to a loved one. "Were you twenty thousand years older... were you not already in love with your own Yuki-onna, I would certainly guide you into a mountain cave and become real for you..." The Yuki-Onna kissed Chouji lightly on the lips, a very chaste kiss, but not one without love or passion despite it's innocent seeming nature. "I will not grant your friends or family safety and peace... No, I'll grant you the power to do it yourself... Another chance, if you will... Take care of your body, alright? You can't know when I'll be feeling this nice again for you... And I only exist as pure as now in Hyōga Sanmyaku."

The Yuki-Onna went to kiss Chouji again, though this time she passed clean through him. Time started again and Chouji felt... Great! He felt positively amazing. A tiger bit down on him and froze solid. He looked at his wounds. They were still there but they were frozen so that the blood couldn't escape. In fact, everything Chouji touched froze solid. The tigers were rendered to icy statues, the sabre tooth in Chouji's hands crumbled to cold shards as soon as he gripped it with any force. Chouji didn't care about anything now. He charged straight into the door of the imperial citadel, blasting through the front door as if it were glass. I'll let you know, Akimichi Chouji, The Yuki-Onna's voice echoed in Chouji's mind, I only have enough power to keep this up for five minutes. Don't let anyone touch you within that time, not even your allies. Chouji made a mental note of it all as he strode through the now freezing halls of the citadel. He climbed the stairs at top speed, knowing the his four companions had already made it in. They would be grabbing treasures by the sled full right about now. Suddenly chouji heard a sound. It was a dull thumping, quiet at first, then progressively getting louder and louder each time until...

The ceiling exploded above Chouji. Treasures rained down from the floor above in mass quantity. It wasn't just the standard Polar treasures. There was gold and silver and star cast and other metallic objects that looked highly valuable. Swords and shields and staffs and rings all rained down. Finally, Hizano hit the ground and then a truly dominating tiger of colossal size. Hizano's body was at the center of a truly powerful aura in the shape of a polar bear. The aura seemed itself solid; at least solid enough to catch the tiger's teeth with its paws to keep from being bitten. In the center Hizano motioned all of the aura's motions. From the floor up, as well as more treasures, fell the remaining tree party members. Temano was in the middle of tangling with a very large tiger, though not near as large as the one Hizano fought. Trees ripped from the walls and floors to attack the beast as it attacked. Sai's ink bird flew into the room just before Kyogi, in all his splendor, fell in on top of a tiger nearly as large as Hizano's. Chouji, by taking a single look, guessed the Imperial Tiger Family. It was no big surprise that the team was pulling out all the proverbial stops to take this trio down. Sai was attacking with massive ink ravens and what Chouji guessed was the queen was batting them away as Kyogi, fully wreathed in flame, fought with her hand to hand with much proficiency. Chouji took two steps toward the combat but the floors fell through again and he, as well as the rest of the groups and treasure, went careening to the next floor down. The very impact caused a chain reaction, however. One floor's rubble broke through the next floor and, in the end, that last fall with Chouji included had landed everyone at the bottom floor, which was very well enough in Chouji's mind. Chouji cried out and drew Sai's attention. The rest seemed too busy with their battles. Sai gave a smile and a wave and flew out into the open air, bringing his murder of crows with him. Temano noticed Chouji's presence next and gave a call, letting Kyogi know of Chouji next. Hizano, however, was in his own world of rage and anger with the Tiger Emperor. Temano and what seemed the youngest of the imperials, more than likely the imperial son, rolled outward into the snow in a tangle of teeth, claws, fur and wood. Any tigers that got in the way were killed in the ensuing bowl-over of Temano and his titanic tree guardian and the Imperial Son of the Tigers.

Kyogi and the Tiger Empress, unlike Temano and the imperial son, much seemed to prefer to take the tough way out, simple bashing through the wall of the citadel to make their escape from the confined spaces that so horrifically limited both of their fighting styles. Kyogi was rolled under the mighty empress of tigers and blasted her through the wall with his heat vision. He advanced on her as he harried her with a constant blast of heat but, just as he was getting close enough to touch her she roused, rolling up and grabbing him in a paw. The melee continued between them from there. The other tigers were petrified. Chouji was taking care of the few crowds of them that were able to deal with the intimidation of seeing all three of their royals being fought on equal terms. Sai sent murders of inky crows out to those who were already to afraid to fight as well as sending many more murders into the citadel to gather treasures before the whole place collapsed, something that Chouji was quite sure himself would happen rather soon with all the damage. Hizano still hadn't noticed Chouji. He was too busy fighting a king and too busy being angry and wrathful at that king and his people for supposedly killing his master. Chouji had no doubt that the transformation from the normal Hizano to this beast of destruction happend as soon as they got into the citadel proper at the first thing Hizano saw that wasn't friend. No doubt that very same entity had been the Emperor himself.

Chouji felt, suddenly, the power start to wane from him after some time of freezing tigers solid. Kyogi had, more or less, taken care of the empress. He stood over her battered body, keeping her down and from moving with constant blasts of heat and punishing blows. She was as near to her death as one could be without achieving it. Kyogi would soon deliver the final blow. Temano was still wrestling grandly with the Imperial Son. The two had been tangling about for the past few minutes but it was getting quite clear what side was to win. The Imperial Son was using all of his energy in the fight, not having any aid against this mighty foe of regrowing plant matter. Every major "wound" Temano's guardian was dealt restored itself in seconds, simply pulling itself back together as it grew back. Temano sat comfortably inside the chest cavity of the guardian, having been raked at a few times but certainly not having been injured beyond a few scratches. He was taking his time. He had the fight completely in hand now that the Imperial Son was tiring. The emperor, however, was still fighting strong. He wasn't too strong for Hizano, though he was showing no signs of weakness at all. Hizano wasn't showing any signs of giving up and even Chouji knew better than to step in. At this point it was not a battle for life or death. This was an honor battle. It wasn't about winning or losing, per se. No, it was about avenging or defending. The Emperor was fighting to protect his title as Emperor and to defend his land and treasure. Hizano was fighting to avenge the injury and supposed death of his people as well as the honor that he would receive were he to defeat the Emperor.

Choji decided that he would give Kyogi the hand in finishing the Empress. "Kyogi-kun!" Chouji called out, "Let me give you a hand in that pile of rubbish!" Chouji cried as he leaped toward the empress. Tigers leaped in the way but they were swept aside by Chouji's now cold, but no longer completely polar hands. He stepped up to the empress and Kyogi leaped down with a grin as Chouji lifted his fists and slammed them down on the Empress' throat, slaying her at once. "How about we go help Temano-kun!" Chouji said, "He's got that fight down already, he's just taking his time." Kyogi nodded and the two advanced into Temano and the Son's fight. The surrounding tigers were in complete disarray. Their empress was dead and the imperial son would surely be next. They dared not enter this fight, lest they be killed in the cross fire, though they were still already in deep mourning of their royals and panic from these intruders.

With Chouji and Kyogi's help the Imperial son was finished quickly. Chouji stopped the killing blow and left the Imperial Son behind. He felt it a piece of mercy but certainly a doishonor by not killing him. It all voiced the the Imperial Son was simply not worth it. It was one of the worst blows to one's pride that could happen. They had denied the Imperial Son an honorable death and now he would live in shame. Meanwhile Kyogi moved to join Hizano's fight. Chouji held a now warm hand out. "No! This is his honor battle. He'll win it." Chouji gave a cry out and Hizano, for only the briefest of moments, looked his way, realizing that he was, in fact, alive and there. Light suddenly filled Hizano's eyes and he turned, a new encouragement bright in his eyes. The aura of the bear reached out to catch an oncoming maw but Hizano's form side stepped and caught the Emperor by the neck. It was over. In one swift move Hizano snapped the Emperor's neck and in another, he tore the head clean off.

The tiger's reaction was instant. They lost their very will to put up defense afterward. Chouji's group gathered their treasure in great sleds made by Temano and they set off, Hizano keeping the Emperor's head as a "souvenir." Kyogi kept the Empress' left ear, which he swore he would make into a cloak for himself and Temano grabbed the Imperial Son's right canine, which his guardian had knocked out in their fight. On the way back Chouji fell over from exposure. His bleeding had once again begun and they loaded him onto a sled before moving on. He was strangely consciuous the whole time. Hizano was pulling three of the ten great sleds by his own power, the aura of the polar bear still around him as he pulled the many ropes and silken cords. The sleds, no matter how slippery the surface, did not slide easily. They were so full to the brim wityh treasure it couldn't be fathomed. One of the sleds had the "pleasure" of being loaded down by the Emperor's head, which had it's mouth full of treasure as well. The Emperor's throne itself took up a good eal of one sled on it's own while miscellaneous treasure filled the rest. Temano had cionstructed sails on all of the sleds, great, strong sails of wooden substance that caught wind perfectly. Tiny nudges of wind chakra made the wind move in the right direction and Hizano's pulling, as well as the pulling of great ink elephants, proved to move things along rather quickly.

It seemed like months that went by before they saw the great gates of the Capital, though Chouji knew better. Kyogi sat next to Chouji, wrapping his side. "There it is, Chouji-sensei." Kyogi said slowly as he looked toward the capital. "Round trip comes out to eighteen hours of crazy adventures. Sorry we didn't see the archaic bear but I figured you wouldn't be up to the challenge."

Chouji chuckled weakly and shook his head. They were greeted, most grandly. Chouji, however, found the strength to stand, despite the fact that a stretcher was brought for him. He stumbled to a nearby sled and leaned over it, refusing help from the medical bears who came to tend to him. He started to dig into the piles of treasure. He needed something for Hinata, something special. Of course there were plenty of special looking things. Chouji had no dopubt that a good half of the items in the sleds had special qualities. A raven's eye pendant that could see anywhere you wished to look, a fur blanket that kept any house warm when hung above the doorway. These weren't uncommon at all as far as major special items. However, Chouji wanted something most decidedly Hinata. He thought for a bit, His beast man form heaving as he leaned over the treasure. The medics were yelling at him to lay down, to rest, to stop digging through the piles of treasure. He paid them no mind as he stumbled to the next sled to search for something special. After near a minute of searching this new sled Chouji found something. It was small, special, seemed even magical. It was also, as he was lookng for, very Hinata.

It was a heart... sort of. It was a bauble of sorts, shining wonderfully in a mock heart shape. There was a very purposeful crack through it, certainly it was made that way. The reasoning drove home even more easily when Chouji noted the piece around the heart. It was a bear, a polar bear. It was not odd for Polar Bears to have treasures in the likeness of tigers, so why not the other way around? The polar bear was embracing the heart and within the heart was a young woman leaning against the inner wall of the heart, against the bear's embrace. Perhaps Chouji was a little too obsessed with bears but it would be a wonderful gift, he knew it. Hinata had been a fine young woman all of her life. When Chouji returned Hinata had been broken hearted. She had been broken entirely. Chouji, in his own bear sort of way, had come and sought her through that heart, repairing the damage.

Chouji suddenly remembered the child's gift. It would be more difficult than Hinata's. Chouji didn't know if it was to be a boy or girl so what would he choose. He deftly picked through the treasures. There was nothing for a child in the sled. He stumbled three sleds over, still continuing to push medics away. He picked through more and then, suddenly, a feminine voice reached his ears, the medics becoming quiet. "Choose something for battle..." The voice said. "He'll be a strong warrior." Chouji looked over and saw Ty Dao sitting on the edge of the sled, a smile through her mask. Chouji smiled and nodded slightly. "I just thought I'd give you a hint into the future. He hasn't been born yet but I'm pretty sure he'll be a boy, what with the problems Hinata-sensei's having. She's really in pain in there... but aside from that it's all normal. She'll deliver in about an hour or so, probably, so you got here in time... Maybe you should get looked at first, though."

Chouji gave a weak chuckle and shook his head. "Nah, but thanks, Ty Dao-chan." Chouji looked around the stuff and finally located something. It was a small dagger. Granted the dagger was on a pendant. It was the length of a large sewing, the kind used for leather instead of cloth. It would be the perfect size for a small child when they were old enough to know about knives, maybe two. Of course it wouldn't get any use but it would look good at a hip. That would be nice for a little boy. Chouji picked up the silvery weapon and then looked around for something for a girl. As much as he trusted Ty Dao's intuition he didn't want to risk it. Speaking of a magical fur that kept a room warm, Chouji found something similar in the sled. It was a length of fur that was always warm. It was very nice, though it wasn't quite good enough for an adult blanket. It was probably cut for a hat, just enough fur to cover a head but, due to the fact that Tigers seldom wore hats, so far as Chouji knew, it was never made into a suitable piece of headwear. Well, the loss of a cold head was the gain of a soon to be very warm newborn baby, a perfect gift for a newborn human child in the land of eternal snow and ice.

Chouji was led in y Ty Dao just as the still raging blizzard took a turn for the worst. The wind blew right through Chouji, though that was probably more in part due to his injuries than the blizzard itself. When inside Chouji warmed significantly, though his blood loss still made him cold. Ty Dao led Chouji to Hinata, leaving the medical bears behind.

Meanwhile Hinata lay on the many birthing furs, feeling so very horrible. It had been over a day since she had gone into labor. Hinata just wante everything to be over and done with. The child inside of her had indeed settled down a few times, enough for Hinata to rest and regain the energy she had lost from the baby's restlessness, however, not at all enough. Now she just wanted Chouji with her, holding her hand and whispering sweet nothing in her ears and heralding the baby's quick arrival. Hinata's blue skin let off cool sweat constantly, the sweat being wiped off before it could freeze. At this stage putting furs over Hinata for heat would be stupid. She was stuck as a being of cold. Not stuck, per se, but she felt a lot more enduring in the Yuki-Onna's form and after hearing it was no harm to the baby inside of her, Hinata was perfectly fine waiting out the whole delivery as a blue snow woman instead of plain old human Hinata. It wasn't that Hinata didn't like her real form. On the contrary she loved it. However, it felt more fitting as the Yuki-Onna, since Chouji was always as the Beast Man. Also, plain old human Hinata didn't handle such pain nearly as well, of this Hinata was very aware. If it all hurt this much as the Yuki-Onna, Hinata was sure the instant she changed back she would die from the pain and misery of it all.

No sooner had the next thought of Chouji's appearance crossed Hinata's mind had her Beast Man stepped through the door with Ty Dao at his heel, making sure he didn't fall over. Hinata looked to him and was shocked at what she saw. Sure, Chouji was beaten up, what else was new? Chouji, whenever he did anything from a hunt to a mission of his own personal interest, to going to the kitchens to help prepare a meal, ould get some sort of injury, whether minor or major. He simply was injury prone, though nothing as bad as this had happened since the fight with Naruto months ago. The whole right side of Chouji's torso was wrapped up, the bandages, however, weren't fresh, or they didn't look it. They were positively dripping with blood. Hinata's byakugan revealed that, not only was there a wpound there, but that there wasn't flesh at all. In some areas his ribs were exposed to bare air, or would have been had the bandages not been on. He shouldn't be walking! He shouldn't be breathing! Chouji should have been dead from those injuries! "Ch-Chouji!" Hinata said as Chouji closed the distance. "What happened to you!?!" She cried out, reaching for him in eagerness, almost entirely forgetting her own pain now that she saw Chouji's own injuries.

"I got you a present, Hinata." Chouji said, placing the heart bauble in her hand. Hinata was dumbstruck by Chouji's seeming lack of priority. Then she looked at the bauble that had been placed in her hand. Her heart was filled with love at that moment. It was a nostalgic little piece. A bear that embraced the broken heart of a tormented maiden. It was so sweet, despite the fact that Chouji was near dying beside her. He was so sweet that he had put himself in danger for such a thing. Hinata placed the bauble on a nearby stone slab that acted as a nightstand. "I got the baby a couple presents too..." chouji said, handing the small dagger and the fur. Hinata took them and looked them over. It didn't matter how hurt Chouji was now. He wanted her approval, unconsciously so. Hinata could tell, now that she looked at Chouji, that she couldn't actually carry on a conversation with him, not intelligibly, at least. He was too far gone. He was acting unconsciously on his desires to please Hinata, to protect her and make her happy. Few people were that dedicated to their partners but Chouji was one of them.

Hinata loved the fluffy warmth of the fur and thought it a wonderful baby blanket for their child. The dagger was a bit emposing but, as Hinata looked at Ty Dao giving a thumbs up for the dagger she couldn't help but to smile. That silly tomboy had been the cause of it. Regardless, a dagger was a good tool, boy or girl. "I think they're wonderful, Chouji." Hinata said, reaching out to embrace Chouji. Chouji leaned into the embrace and reached around Hinata to embrace her as well, though his flesh was cool to the touch and his embrace a weak one. Hinata knew better than to be disappointed. Chouji was giving it his all, whether he knew it or not. Suddenly Chouji fell from Hinata's embrace and hit the ground hard. Medical Bears rushed into the room, almost like they had been waiting for the very moment that Chouji would fall over, which was probably the case. Hinata spoke out. "Could you tend to him in here, please?" She asked. "Even if he isn't conscious for it... He wanted to be present. We need to respect that." The medical bears exchanged looks and slowly nodded. It was the least they could do for both Chouji and Hinata.

Kuma-Oumono stepped into the room within the hour and looked at Chouji as the medical bears tended to him roughly ten feet from Hinata. He had one of the biggest bear smiles Hinata had ever seen. He seemed the picture of happiness, both paternal and otherwise. "I love that cub." He said bluntly and stepped over him. "I must say, you picked a most amazing mate, Hinata." Kuma-Oumono said happily. "He never ceases to amaze me with his escapades. What'll be next, bringing me the paw of an Archaic Bear as well."

Hinata spoke up, slightly confused. "Otou-san?"

Kuma-Oumono turned to face Hinata. "He went out near twenty hours ago for your presents... He didn't want to get anything normal so he went and slew the Tiger Emperor and his Empress. Put the Imperial Son to shame, brought back the Emperor's head and the Empress' ear and a tooth of the Son! He brought back sled loads of treasure just for you. The whole treasury, I don't joke about these things. As soon as you are able you will see the bounty he and his companions have prepared for you as well as they other treasures!"

"Treasures?" Hinata asked, still in great confusion. "What do you mean? Did Chouji get these horrible injuries hunting for treasure?"

"All for you and the child, Hinata." Kuma-Oumono said proudly. "It's a tradition that a branch male goes out and hunts the treasure of the branch. The companions are giving about half to us. They say Chouji didn't expect as much as they got away with. Hizano get's the Emperor's skull since he defeated him. I am proud of that cub too. When will Chouji cease making my life easier and more entertaining, I wonder?"

Hinata was a bit taken aback by this. Still it was sweet. "I am glad he is alright." She said slowly, a small smile on her face.

"I'm surprised he's alive at all." The bear king said placidly, "From what I hear he took a sixty story fall and got chewed on in the fall, then landed right on his spine without any gradual slowing down. Sixty stories of falling while getting chewed on by tigers, landed back first in the stone below, then just got back up and started killing tigers with a broken sabre tooth. Impressive, to say the least."

Hinata shuddered to sthink how that must have been for poor Chouji, that is she shuddered because of that thought until he shuddering intensified and the baby wanted out. It wasn't like before. It had wanted out before, just not right then. Now it wanted OUT! It wanted out now and wasn't going to wait for Hinata to get ready. Hinata made a face of horrible pain and laid back right away. Ty Dao stepped right up and looked at Kuma-Oumono. "You will have to leave now, please. And please send in three other medical bears. Send in Maya-chan if you can."

Hinata didn't care who was in the room. She wanted the child out right then. "Ty Dao-chan, it hurts!"

"I'm sorry, Hinata-sensei," Ty Dao spoke up immediately as she checked Hinata under the furs that covered her legs. "I'm not gonna lie to you..." Ty Dao started, "This is gonna hurt... A lot."

"It already hurts a lot!" Hinata cried out as she saw three medical bears work their way into the room and saw Maya walk to her side. Hinata had no idea Maya had any experience in midwifery, though right now she didn't really care. It was all too painful, all too extreme. Where was Chouji's strong hand to hold hers right now? He was in the room but, dammit all, he couldn't move for his life. No doubt they had given him some kind of drug to knock him out cold. Hinata had seen them forcefeeding him a lot of strange stuff to supposedly keep the pain to a minimum for better sleep. No doubt that would knock him out further than he already was. Now Hinata couldn't even turn her head. It was too much. Didn't they have special drugs to keep women from feeling so much pain during pregnancy? Certainly there was some kind of drug that could be injected directly into the spine to kill all pain! "How can it get any worse?!?" Maya let out a sound of nervousness in response next to Hinata and Hinata suddenly felt even worse about that question. Five minutes went by. There was still no pushing! Why was there no pushing? When would they tell Hinata to start shoving that child out of her body? When would it end?!? Hinata's head was pumping. She could hear everything so easily, like a horrible headache when you woke up. She could hear the blasting blizzards outside the capital, though everyone could. The blizzard was the biggest Hinata had ever heard, no doubt the biggest she would ever see if she got to see it. Hinata couldn't take it, tears rolling down her cheeks and freezing in place too quickly to be wiped away. "I can't do it!" She cried out, "It's no use, make it stop!"

Suddenly something tightened around Hinata's hand. She suspected, at first, it was the paw of a bear or Maya's hand. However, Maya and the bears were all hard at work doing whatever it was they were doing. It wasn't Ty Dao's hand. She was preparing "the catch." Hinata looked over to see Chouji half sitting half leaning against the bed slab that she lay on. He wasn't facing her but he was mildly conscious, it seemed. His breathing seemed so heavy and so slow. Hinata could hear it, so labored. "You can do it... Hinata." Chouji muttered, still seeming half dead to the world. "Just... A little more."

Hinata suddenly felt a bit better. Chouji was here, even if he wasn't seeing it, even if, were he to move he would fall over, he was there for her. In her darkest hour, in his weakest moments, Chouji was there for Hinata. "O-Okay." Hinata muttered

"Now's the time I need some pushing." Ty Dao said, words of relief from Hinata's gods and heavens, they were. She gave a push, the single most exhausting moment of her life, certainly. "I need another one, Hinata-sensei!" Hinata pushed again, this one more exhausting than the last. Another and another push, Hinata had ceased feeling pain. Now she only felt exhaustion. "One last time, Hinata-sensei! This'll be it!" Ty Dao's voice called from somewhere far away. Hinata pushed. It was a mighty push, at least by Hinata standards at that point. Suddenly, it was over. The baby seemed quiet. Was it alright? Was it alive?!? "And just a little prick..." Ty Dao muttered. Suddenly there was crying and Hinata had never been more happy to hear it. Ty Dao kept the child for a bit, checking it over before handing it to Hinata herself. "A beautiful little baby girl. Get acquainted, okay?" Ty Dao whispered quietly.

"What... What is it?" Chouji asked, still delerious.

"A girl." Hinata said, placing the child to her breast and looking her over. The girl had a head of red hair, just a little patch, of course, but by newborn standards it was a full head. "She's got your hair."

Chouji let a soft chuckle after hearing this. "I know she's got your eyes. I don't even have to see her."

"Would you like to?" Hinata asked

"I... I wish I could... I can't see... for some reason." Chouji stated, sounding a bit depressed about it.

"That should wear off in an hour or so." A medical bear cut in. "It a drug that heightens your healing. Only need one dose to get the stuff going."

"Thank you..." Chouji muttered. "Could I... hold her?"

Hinata looked to Ty Dao and the masked ninja smiled through her mask, nodding. Maya took the child and handed her to Chouji, who now had pristine bandages of heavy hide and no blood on his at all. He held the little girl in his arms, the crying stopping right away. "She knows her daddy." Ty Dao said with a giggle. Chouji had never felt more complete. He couldn't see his child but she felt like a strong one. What mattered most was that she was Chouji's child, the honest and true fruition of the love that he shared with Hinata, now and forever.

Chouji leaned his head down and felt the child's little hands rub against his face, a gentle cooing sounding from her. "Hey..." He said slowly. "I'm your daddy. Welcome to the world, little one." Chouji lifted his head a bit. "We still gonna called her Takara?" He asked Hinata. Hinata gioggled and made a noise of approval. "Hey, little Takara." Chouji cooed to the baby. "I promise you I'll never let you get as hurt as I do." These words ushered laughter from everyone in the room, including a great booming laugh that came from the doorway. Even Chouji turned his blind eyes to where the sound came from.

"I find it strange that, as soon as that child was born, that blizzard stopped right away. She was born on the strongest blizzard I have seen in a hundred years." Kuma-Oumono spoke as he strutted into the room. The great, hulking beast of a bear looked down at Takara, extending a claw and waving it arond before her. "What a precious little creature. She isn't a bear but she is one of us from this point on." Kuma-Oumono looked at Takara up and down. "Hmm? What is this on her toe? It is a cut."

"That's my doing." Ty Dao cut in, washing her hands in a warm water basin. "You didn't think a child born by my hands wouldn't have a trace of my people's tradition, would you?" Kuma-Oumono raised a big bear eyebrow "The Hazumi have an alternative to the old slap treatment. We don't slap a baby on the rear to rouse her to cry when she is born. Boy or girl, we use a small edge to prick at the toe. A world of combat this little one was born into."

Kuma-Oumono smiled at this. "A simple prick is nothing to worry about. I suppose Ty Dao-chan... you are right. You birthed this child more than bears did. You have the right to some traditions, just as we do."

"If not as much as anyone." Ty Dao said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Hehe," The bear king let out a laugh, "I feel, however, I must place a part in this child's name." Chouji's ears perked up at this and Hinata gave a mildly concerned look. "She was born to the very strongest of blizzards and, when born, such things stopped. This is a very good omen. She is the treasure born into the raging gales of snow. Akimichi Fubuki Takara will be her name, for she must have a middle, I think."

Chouji smiled. "I like it."

Hinata was surprisingly glad with the name as well. "I agree... Well... Can I get some rest now?"

"Feed first!" Maya said, grabbing Takara from Chouji and placing her in Hinata's arms. "First she eat, then you all sleep."

"I'll admit," Hinata started, "I'm surprised you have midwifery skills, Ty Dao-chan."

Ty Dao gave a hearty laugh. "It's the job of a Hazumi woman to learn midwifery. Medicine is for all people but midwifery belongs rightfully to the women. All Hazumi learn certain skills at the age of five that are based around their gender. For women midwifery is a key skill. I found out Maya has helped delivered children in her home as well when she was young. I decided to let her in on it and she is pretty good, so far as I can tell... and I don't skimp my jobs, especvially not of a female nature, ya know?"

Hinata giggled a bit as she nursed Takara. There was a thumping sound and she looked over. Chouji was flat on the floor again. She could see him breathing steadily but still was concerned. "Could... someone look after him?"

"Oh, he just needs rest by now!" Ty Dao said happily, getting Maya to help drag him back to his sleeping slab. "Poor Chouji-sensei can't take the fun. I dont blame him. Where did you put that heated fur thingy?" Ty Dao looked around and spotted the heated fur that Chouji had brought for Takara. "There we go. Baby's first winter blanket!" She grabbed the fur and threw it over Takara rather haphazardly.

Takara was fully covered, Which Hinata guessed was all that really mattered. Then she wondered. "Is it okay to be so cold right now while I'm holding Takara?"

Ty Dao lifted the heated fur and looked at the happily nursing child. "Normally I would say no... However, Takara-chan doesn't seem at all phased by the fact that your flesh is lingering around freezing level. I am guessing it has something to do with the fact that you're her mother. At this point I gotta say I'm at a loss. You'd be better off asking the medical bears. They know more about cold stuff than I do. I'm just a midwife at this moment and I'd say Takara-chan has a love for cold milk and an equally cold mother to suckle from. She's healthy, hungry and cries, all good things. She is very content connected to you and loves her father so far as we can tell. Finally she isn't losing any energy in feeding so I would assume the cold isn't bothering her at all. Just leave her be and, if she stops drinking and seems to be cold, wrap her in that nifty little blanket and hand her to Maya, she'll be staying with ya." Maya nodded happily at this.

Hinata smiled. She was happy that everything was alright. In the end, Takara went down very easily for sleep. Hinata was woken a few times to feed her but, for the most part, sleeping and nursing came one in the same for Hinata. A slight rousing, enough so to latch Takara onto a breast, then back off to dreamland. Hinata guessed Maya just "removed" the child whenever she was done and set her back to sleep after that.

Overall, Hinata felt complete. She had a child, a wonderful baby girl with Chouji. It was healthy, content and beautiful. There was one thing Hinata knew, however, there would be NO MORE CHILDREN! Hinata loved Takara already. She was positively besotted with the beautiful little redhead. However, there was no amount of maternal love that could bring another child into the world like that again in Hinata's mind. One was enough. Besides, how could Hinata bear to split the love between Takara and another child? Hinata somewhat doubted there was enough love in her whole world for just this one child. Then again, that's why there was Chouji around to supply all the rest of the love that Hinata wouldn't be able to give.

{HR}

Woo! Yay all nighters! I love it when a good chapter comes together XP

And finally, Hinata has given birth! BTW, no, this isn't the last chapter! Chapter fifteen will be the finale of Quintessence and it will shock all of you! Yep! But I won't tell what happens yet! Nope, nope, nope! You gotta wait and find out for yourself! Yep, that's right! I'm making you wait again XP Aren't I just the worst?!? XD btw, this chapter was meant for crazy action awesome. I wanted to create vivid, yet flexible fight scenes in people's minds. Like Gandalf fighting the Balrog as they fell through the caverns vivid. Don't think I did as well as I could but I think I did well enough. Anyway, the treasure hunting and Chouji's expedition was the big thing, though I am hoping to make next chapter more Hinata oriented. I hope the ending parts were corny and cheesy enough for ya XP What with the holding of the hand and stuff. Note, the true Yuki-Onna will, so far as I plan currently, never appear again in this series, though she may make a couple of really quick and unclear appearances in Zenith, I'm not sure.

BTW! Do any of you know how ridiculously COLD ice actually is?!? XD no, seriously, you don't even know! At one point being sick I had a 104 fever, so I filled my tub with only cold water and poured my entire ice bucket into it (My ice bucket hadn't been emptied in a while so I had about three hundred cubes in it) and it was COLD! Like, I was 104 to 96 in like... five minutes of "soaking." Really five minutes was all I could take, though I was so sick and delerious I could get out of th tub for like... twenty minutes after I was well ready to get out. Ihowever, I also went from a ridiculously elevated hear rate to just below normal, which was great for me cause the doctors were worried about it when I visited. I slept like a rock that night, it was great. Woke up snuggly warm in my bed the next morning feeling like Micheal Jackson in a children's hospital! (Is it too soon to make bad micheal jackson references?)

Hope ya liked the chapter! Please review and, as always, please don't flame XP

Yours,

Tankou001